Monday, January 6, 2014

Some buddies and I went down to Baffin Bay and fished with Capt. Les Cobb. Les has been guiding on Baffin for over 20 years and knows the best fishing waters in the Baffin Bay complex. "The Back Bays of Baffin" which include Alazan Bay, Laguna Salada and Cayo Del Grullo. These back bays along with Baffin herself are known for producing the biggest trophy trout on the Texas coast hands down. These fabled waters are the prime target for most true trophy trout fisherman and many of Capt. Cobbs' customers have been rewarded with that trout of a lifetime. These big trout can be caught year round in Baffin, but they are at their heaviest weight during the winter months through early spring. During these months is when you want to really focus on catching the true trout of a lifetime the coveted double digit, a 10 pound plus trout, we call her "SUZY SOW ".

So the fishing was tough, which is what I expected. Chasing speckled trout in the winter months is not about going out and catching a bunch or fish. Its a big fish hunt and your gunna have to pay your dues to get an opportunity to land a big fish. Thats always been fine with me because I have found you learn so much more and become a better angler on the tough trips than you do when the fishing is catching. Day 1 the weather was perfect with light winds and warm temperatures. The fish were tough to sell a fly to though. I must have changed flies a dozen times trying to figure out what they would hit. Typically I'm not a big believer in a particular fly being the key to success. But in this instance I was desperate to get a bite. I finally picked up a few fish on a Charlies Airhead. (On a side note, here is at tip you can do with this fly. take a hot glue gun and glue a rattle inside the head of this fly to add some noise for fishing in stained or dark water. you can also add some split shot if you want the fly to sink a little faster.) All in all I ended the day with 3 trout to hand and a couple more hits but no hook ups. I guess it wasn't bad considering my 3 buddies throwing artificials only landed 5 trout between them. Day 2 we had a cold front blowing in mid morning. I was really hoping the fish were going to go on a feeding frenzy before the front hit. It never happened, at least not where we where fishing. I didn't get a bite and my buddies throwing artificials landed 2 fish. We ended up calling it a day when the wind started howling. It was a great trip and I always enjoy learning new things.